Heather Krasnahttps://heatherkrasna.com
I help people get jobs that matterFri, 26 Jan 2018 19:33:25 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/ef5be0166842f87ad8550614eb97b6c5?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngHeather Krasnahttps://heatherkrasna.com
Top 9 Reasons Why You Didn’t Get The Interviewhttps://heatherkrasna.com/2017/08/05/top-9-reasons-why-you-didnt-get-the-interview/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2017/08/05/top-9-reasons-why-you-didnt-get-the-interview/#respondSat, 05 Aug 2017 13:06:37 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=1120Continue reading →]]>I hear it all the time. “I applied to # jobs, but no one will call me for an interview.” Here are the top reasons why people don’t get that call.

Didn’t apply for enough jobs. According to the newest JobVite Recruiting Funnel benchmarking report, an analysis of 69 million job applications, there are about 59 applications for each job, of which 12% get interviews (i.e. you should be applying to about 8.4 jobs in order to get one interview); of those interviewed, 17% get offers (you should get at least one job offer after 6 job interviews). But if your application isn’t high quality, you could apply for hundreds of jobs and get no interviews.

Any errors in the resume or cover letter. If you have typos or grammar errors in the resume or cover letter, it’s likely you will be immediately disqualified.

Lack of the correct keywords in the resume. Since most organizations use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), it’s important to make sure you use the right words in your resume (not just your cover letter, but your resume, should be tailored to the job description). Many recruiters will scan for keywords before reading the resume and lack of keywords can mean a qualified applicant gets skipped over.

Resume isn’t formatted correctly to be “scannable” by an Applicant Tracking System. Speaking of the ATS, some resumes are over-formatted or designed in a way that is unreadable by an ATS. Copy and paste your resume into a plain text document. Is it garbled? If so, so are your job search chances.

Applied for the wrong jobs (jobs you are not qualified for, or are very overqualified for). When an employer says that fluency in French is required for the job, they mean it. If they say you need 10 years’ experience and you have two, you are not qualified for the job. If you have worked your whole career in sales and want to apply for a Director of HR job, you need to show how you have those particular skills–yes, HR is a profession which has actual skills and requirements, and if you don’t have them, you aren’t qualified.

Used a generic cover letter, or no cover letter. While not every employer cares about cover letters, enough of them do that it’s crucial to use one, and to tailor it to the job. A generic letter which doesn’t address why you want the job is about equivalent to no letter at all. A letter which lists the wrong company name or is full of grammar mistakes will harm your chances entirely.

Wrong contact information listed in your resume. This actually happens. Your email’s bouncing, your voicemail’s full or not set up yet. A recruiter wants to interview you. Guess what? If they can’t reach you, they are moving on to someone they can easily contact.

Didn’t “sell” yourself. Your resume lists the job functions you had, but leaves out any achievements, accomplishments, results, or numbers. So what if you organized the files and records? Did you do it accurately, or more efficiently? Did you save money? Did you make the program more impactful? How do we measure that? If you just say what you did, and not what result it had, the recruiter is going to yawn and move on to someone who makes a more powerful case.

Did not do enough networking/did not leverage your network. This is the single biggest reason for most people. A referral inside the organization, according to JobVite’s survey, increases your odds of being called for an interview by 500%, and your chance of being hired by 1500%. Every single time you apply, use your network; ask if you can use your contact’s name in your cover letter. In addition to other forms of follow-up, and using a tailored and powerful application, this is the most effective way to increase your chance of getting the interview.

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2017/08/05/top-9-reasons-why-you-didnt-get-the-interview/feed/0Heather KrasnaGlobal Health to Domestic Health: Jargon Translatorhttps://heatherkrasna.com/2017/05/05/global-health-to-domestic-health-jargon-translator/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2017/05/05/global-health-to-domestic-health-jargon-translator/#respondFri, 05 May 2017 15:10:58 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=1084Continue reading →]]>I frequently encounter job seekers who wish to change career fields or industries/sectors. I have found, though, that even within fields that would seem to be very similar, there can be significant differences in how terminology is used, often to refer to the same thing. Because employers–including human beings like hiring managers or recruiters, as well as recruiters who use computerized keyword searches via their Applicant Tracking System software–are looking for candidates who appear on paper to be as similar as possible to the job they are recruiting for, it’s crucial to translate the wording on your resume to look like your future job.

One common transition is between global health or international development, and domestic/US-based public health or healthcare. Global health/international development has its own long list of jargon terms, so someone switching from global to domestic work has to translate their wording. Here is a jargon translator to use. By the way, I learned how to build tables using HTML to write this post. You’re welcome.

GLOBAL

DOMESTIC

M&E

Program Evaluation

business development

grant writing

USAID

federally funded

malaria, TB

infectious disease, tuberculosis, vector-borne disease

MOH or Ministry of Health

Health Department, Government stakeholder

resource-limited

low-income

clusters, hubs (in UN humanitarian agencies)

groups, programs, stakeholders

IDPs

refugees, asylees, displaced persons

INGO, NGO

nonprofit organization, community-based organization, CBO

GBV

domestic violence

deployments, missions

programs, projects

WASH

environmental health, water quality, sanitation

civil society organizations

local government agencies, nonprofit organizations

HQ, country office

headquarters, local chapter/local office

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2017/05/05/global-health-to-domestic-health-jargon-translator/feed/0Heather KrasnaRadical Career Change After 50: Jobs That Matterhttps://heatherkrasna.com/2015/10/28/radical-career-change-after-50-jobs-that-matter/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2015/10/28/radical-career-change-after-50-jobs-that-matter/#respondWed, 28 Oct 2015 14:19:29 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=1045Continue reading →]]>For many people, it’s a daunting enough to consider finding a new job once you reach a certain age. Most people have families to support and other major financial responsibilities which make it seem impossible to consider a big career change. However, in my experience as a career coach, I have worked with several people who have made tremendous career changes after the age of 50.

What motivates people? In many cases, people realize that they feel they are missing the opportunity to contribute to something bigger than themselves – to have a career with more meaning. Here are some of the ways people have successfully made changes:

A government employee who had reached a high level of management had an awakening after her long-term spouse passed away. She began to question whether her job was really contributing tangibly to the greater good. Following her passion and commitment to her faith, she sold her house, quit her job, and moved to a country in eastern Africa, where she worked building schools, distributing food and nutrition aid, and helping establish health programs. She went from handling $1 billion budgets to raising small donations which would have an even bigger, visible impact. She could see directly how she was saving the lives of children every single day. When she returns to the USA, her new skills, combined with her prior career, would make her a strong candidate for a position in international development or nonprofit management.

A graphic artist who had a strong background in print media found himself laid off when his knowledge area and expertise were not in high demand due to industry changes. After beginning a new blog, revamping his resume to focus on the digital media aspects of his prior positions, and emphasizing his transferable skills in media, he was able to find a different position in communications with less of a focus on print media, all in the nonprofit sector.

An aerospace engineer who had reached a high level of management in his company, also decided to retire early, and focus his efforts on global issues. After a radical transformation of his resume – taking out all of the aerospace and engineering related jargon – he took on several volunteer opportunities, went back to graduate school to get a degree in public administration, and leveraged his established network to find an opportunity in a nonprofit organization building schools for girls in Afghanistan.

The founder of a food company decided to redirect his efforts to nutrition and used his business background and education to become a faculty member at a business school teaching about corporate social responsibility.

What did these career-changers all have in common? They focused on their transferable skills; they filled gaps in their experience with volunteer work and education; in many cases, they planned their jump into a new field years in advance and took calculated risks. It should be acknowledged that it is easier to take the leap when someone is in a place where they have fewer responsibilities and more money saved, but even in cases where people made changes due to necessity and not of their own choice, it has been possible for people to rebound from setbacks by networking, building new skills, and learning the language of a new employer rather than focusing on the past. With a positive focus and determination, radical changes can and do take place for people at all points of life.

As a career coach, I get this question often: how do I look for a new job without my current boss finding out? Here are some tips:

1. Lock down your LinkedIn profile.If you are connected to any of your co-workers or your boss, and are also aggressively updating your LinkedIn profile, someone might notice. To ensure your updates aren’t being broadcast to the universe, fix your privacy settings. Click on the tiny icon of your own picture in the top right-hand corner of the screen, then click Privacy & Settings–Review. Then scroll down to Privacy Controls.

Turn on/off your activity broadcasts: unclick the box next to “Let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations, or follow companies”
Select who can see your activity feed: select “Only you.”
Select what others see when you’ve viewed their profile: this one I typically leave as “your name and headline.” By doing this, you are able to see which people view your profile. In addition, sometimes people have connected with me just because I visited their profile. But if you are worried that other will think you are stalking them just because you looked at their profile, keep this “anonymous.”

Also: it’s tempting to change your Industry and/or Location to the ones you are trying to target in future (for instance, if you plan to relocate to New York City from Seattle, you may be tempted to change your location to Seattle), or to list on your profile that you are seeking to make a transition to a new field. If you do this, be aware that you might get questions about it from your boss.

2. Network carefully. Reach out to new people or existing connections, but do so carefully, and one by one rather than through a broadcast message. (And it seems obvious, but DON’T tweet or share on Facebook that you’re looking!) When connecting with existing contacts, let them know that you are confidentially starting to think about next steps in your career, and ask for their advice. When reaching out to new contacts, tell them you’re simply expanding your network and learning about other organizations to get an understanding of best practices in your field. Get to know the other person and find out what you have in common–and most importantly, find out whether they know anyone at your current organization. Once you develop some rapport and trust, you can let them know you are thinking about your next steps and ask for their (confidential) help. And make sure to tell them to ask you first, before they let other people know you are looking.

3. Engage a search firm–carefully. One of the main reasons employers engage a search firm is that they can maintain confidentiality better than other recruitment methods. If you work with executive search firms, be sure to tell them (in your application and in your conversations) that your search is confidential. If they do background research on you as a candidate, tell them specifically which people are “off limits” to contact.

4. Apply carefully. Mention in your cover letter that your search is confidential. If an employer insists on speaking to someone at the place where you currently work as a reference, try to find a colleague you can trust as your confidante, who can give you a positive review. If the employer demands to get a reference from your current supervisor, it’s reasonable to ask the employer (a) for reassurance that you are the only finalist candidate; (b) what the salary for the position is, since you don’t want to jeopardize your current job for a position that pays less (this is probably the only time I recommend to ask about salary prior to an offer).

5. Give up, if you have to. I worked with the executive director of a nonprofit organization once, who was looking for a new ED position at another, similar nonprofit or philanthropy. However, all of the board members of the nonprofit where she was currently ED seemed to sit on the boards of the other organizations where she wanted to work. She had to work with an executive search firm to maintain confidentiality, but at some point, when she was closer to being a finalist, she was going to have to be interviewed by someone on her own board. Sometimes it’s really impossible to maintain total confidentiality in your search. On occasion, having the hard conversation with your boss(es) about why you’re looking around can actually lead to a positive and fruitful result, even including a raise or promotion to try to retain you. Sometimes, though, you have to make a tough choice and take a risk in order to find something else that is a better fit for you.

People often wonder how to decide whether to keep a particular bullet point, or even a whole job or section, in their resume. Here’s a simple flowchart/infographic to help you figure it out.

If you have less experience and are having trouble filling up a single page of a resume, you can ignore this post; or you can use it to help prioritize which bullet points should go closer to the top of the resume or even whether to put your job titles versus the names of past employers first or second.

When reading job descriptions to determine what’s relevant, look for key words (technical terms or phrases emphasized or repeated in job descriptions, often proper nouns). Assess your experience to determine whether it’s relevant either in terms of skills, or in terms of demonstrating your exposure to a particular industry, setting or client population.

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/10/25/should-i-keep-it-on-my-resume/feed/1Heather KrasnaShould I Keep it On My Resume?The 9 Week Job Searchhttps://heatherkrasna.com/2013/03/13/the-9-week-job-search/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/03/13/the-9-week-job-search/#respondWed, 13 Mar 2013 17:32:16 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=970Continue reading →]]>I recently helped a job seeker get a job in 9 weeks, from start to finish. The search took place during the holidays, meaning a week and a half were out of bounds for interviews (including networking interviews) but that time could be spent on applications.

People are often surprised by the number of applications, networking meetings, and interviews it actually takes to get a new job. If you put in the effort as described in this post, you can get your new job a lot faster.

There were a total of over 120 job applications, 45 informational interviews, and interviews for 35 different jobs. As you can see, applications and networking were front loaded in the first few weeks, then tapered off as the candidate started landing actual job interviews.

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/03/13/the-9-week-job-search/feed/0Heather Krasna9 week search25 Tips for Career Relocationhttps://heatherkrasna.com/2013/02/13/5-tips-for-career-relocation/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/02/13/5-tips-for-career-relocation/#respondTue, 12 Feb 2013 20:20:19 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=962Continue reading →]]>Perhaps you want to be closer to your aging parents. Or perhaps you want to move to a city that is a hub of an industry that offers more opportunity for career growth. Maybe you just need more sunshine, more mountains, or less traffic.

Whatever your motivation, job seekers who hope to relocate can encounter special challenges. Many companies won’t even consider candidates who are relocating. They worry you will need too much time to relocate; that you’ll want your travel and relocation expenses covered; or that you might not like the new location and want to leave shortly after you arrive. You also face the challenge of creating a strong local network to provide internal referrals for jobs.

Here are 5 proven tips to help you overcome these barriers to getting hired.

1. Use LinkedIn to quickly establish your network long-distance. Click the “Advanced” link on the top right-hand side of the screen, then search by zip code or country. Then delimit by industry, job title, keyword, etc. Sort the results by “Connections” and you then will see the most well-connected people in your target city and industry. These are likely “open networkers” who will be glad to link to you. By linking to them, you immediately expand your future search results in the area. Also look at their groups and join relevant ones.

2. Use Skype, the phone, professional associations, alumni groups, and local job boards. Some cities have niche job boards or even listservs that serve as a hub for professional networks. Use informational interviews to ask what local resources are used for job seeking. Use membership rosters from your professional or alumni association and cold-call people in the new location. Be ready to use Skype to conduct job interviews—it’s being used more and more often to save on travel expenses.

3. Make several trips to the new location for networking and interviewing. LinkedIn and Skype only go so far. Try as much as possible to arrange a vacation, attend a conference, or otherwise make a field trip to the new city and book back-to-back informational interviews.

4. Mention your reasons for relocation in your cover letter and interview. A brief note at the end of your letter, stating a reason why you are moving, without getting too personal, will reassure employers that you’re serious.

5. Use the relocation to your advantage by using the “one night only” technique. Once you apply for a position, follow up with a call or email to say you will be coming to town for a few days and give a date range. Some employers will schedule interviews mainly because you are a limited commodity.

Knowing that you have a barrier to entry in a new job market, be as flexible as you can on start date. Unless you are at an executive level, don’t insist on paid relocation. Try to land an offer, and other items can be negotiated from there.

This article originally appeared in Wiley Job Network

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/02/13/5-tips-for-career-relocation/feed/0Heather KrasnaHow to Politely Nudge Recruitershttps://heatherkrasna.com/2013/02/06/how-to-politely-nudge-recruiters/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/02/06/how-to-politely-nudge-recruiters/#respondTue, 05 Feb 2013 20:17:15 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=958Continue reading →]]>You’ve applied for the job; you’ve had an interview; or you’ve just reached out to a new networking connection at your favorite company. Now it’s a waiting game, right? Wrong. Done right, good follow-up can get your resume a second look in searches, bring in more job leads, or even land you the job.

To follow up without being annoying, always emphasize your interest in the company, be appreciative of others’ time, stay patient, ask for honest feedback where possible, and ask the contact when and how you should follow up. Here are some guidelines for each phase of your search:

Networking Follow-up: If you reach out to a contact to ask for an informational interview, set your calendar to send a reminder after three days, then ten days after your initial outreach. If a contact doesn’t reply by then, try a different person at your target company. After an informational interview, send a thank-you note, then follow up every other month with relevant articles, updates, and other useful communication to keep you top of mind.

Application Follow-up: If the job posting lists a contact person, they are fair game for a follow-up call, a few days after the application. If no contact is listed, it is often fairly easy to find an appropriate contact person using LinkedIn, a Google search, or a company directory. When you get a contact on the phone, show enthusiasm and interest, and, if they have a minute to speak, ask one or two pithy questions like “How did the position become available?” or “What is the most important quality you’re seeking in a new hire?” Ask when they might be taking next steps, and whom you should contact to follow up. Mark your calendar to follow up then; or if they are vague, set your calendar to reach out after 14 and 28 days. After two months, you can probably cross the job off your list.

Interview Follow-up: Send a customized thank-you note immediately after your interview to each person who interviewed you. During the interview, ask when you should expect to hear about next steps. Then mark your calendar for three days after the date they mentioned—searches always take longer than people think.

After Rejection: Most people just move on, or even sulk after a rejection. But if you are one of the very few people who reach out to employers who rejected you to thank them for their time and to ask how you might improve for future interviews, you will stand out as a class act. Knowing that a good percentage of new hires won’t work out in their first 90 days, you might even get a call back about the same position or others in the company. Some employers can’t give you real feedback, but if you’re lucky, you could even learn how to improve your next interview.

Appreciative, polite, and organized follow-up can lift your resume to the top of the pile. Set yourself apart—make the call!

This article originally appeared in Wiley Job Network

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/02/06/how-to-politely-nudge-recruiters/feed/0Heather KrasnaBeating Resume Robotshttps://heatherkrasna.com/2013/01/30/beating-resume-robots/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/01/30/beating-resume-robots/#respondWed, 30 Jan 2013 19:46:41 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=956Continue reading →]]>For years now, many companies have been using applicant tracking systems (“ATS’s”) to manage the volume of resumes that are submitted for jobs. As a job seeker, it’s hard to know which companies use an ATS, though in some cases it’s obvious—when you click the “apply” button, you are taken to a site like Silkroad, Taleo, iCIMS, JobVite, or Bullhorn (to name a few). Certain employers almost always use an ATS, while others, including most small companies and nonprofits, can’t afford them.

Why should you care? Because the ATS is often the first to “read” your resume—thus a computer software determines if a human will even see your resume. The ATS is used to scan resumes for keywords to screen out candidates. Some ATS software has strong “parsing” capability, being able to weight the keywords by positioning (closer to the top of the resume and/or repeated words getting more weight), while others just aren’t that smart.

There are several secrets for beating these resume robots so that your resume is read by a human:

· Carefully read the job description; print it out and take a highlighter to the more technical terms, proper nouns, and verbs. Words or phrases that are repeated, words from the job title itself, names of software or foreign languages, names of licenses or certifications, or skills labeled as “required” should get extra attention.

· Copy and paste the job description into Wordle.net to get a word cloud showing the words that are repeated the most. Try software like Resunate.com to see how well your resume matches the job description.

· Read in between the lines—a company asking for someone with consulting experience at a top firm might decide to scan for “Bain,” “Boston Consulting Group,” or “McKinsey.”

· Make sure your resume is parsed correctly. For certain ATS’s, if you upload your resume it will be converted into a plain text version. If you can, check to make sure your resume converted correctly in the database.

· Go to LinkedIn.com and look under “Companies,” then look up the company in question; click on the “Employee Insights” tab, then look on the right side-bar for the Top Skills of employees of the company—these are often your keywords.

A word of caution—there is no point in creating a resume with great keywords if you can’t back them up in real life. Don’t waste a recruiter’s time—and yours—by throwing in terms you haven’t earned the right to list in the resume. You will only fall apart the minute you are questioned in the interview.

And, finally, the real best way to beat the resume robot is to connect with a human in the first place. Build your professional network at your favorite companies to get an internal referral, and you won’t have to worry about resume robots at all.

This article originally appeared in Wiley Job Network

]]>https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/01/30/beating-resume-robots/feed/0Heather KrasnaTips for the PhD Job Searchhttps://heatherkrasna.com/2013/01/23/tips-for-the-phd-job-search/
https://heatherkrasna.com/2013/01/23/tips-for-the-phd-job-search/#respondWed, 23 Jan 2013 19:45:41 +0000http://heatherkrasna.com/?p=954Continue reading →]]>If you have a doctorate, or are pursuing one, you may already know about the two different job search processes for PhDs: academic and non-academic. Many people who pursue a PhD, especially in disciplines that have less of an established track record in industry, assume they will become tenured professors. As more universities hire adjunct faculty and lecturers, though, it is increasingly important to understand both types of search.

1. Universities submit position openings to boutique job boards focused on higher education, listserves for specific professional associations, and emails to the Deans or Department Chairs of PhD programs around the country. Positions are listed as early as summer or early fall for the following academic year. You should also present papers or poster sessions at major conferences to improve your reputation and try to land initial interviews.

2. PhD students in their final year; and potentially recent graduates conducting post-docs apply for these positions. Unlike in most other job searches, you must submit specific materials including an academic CV—formatted differently from a regular resume, emphasizing publications, research and teaching and not limited to 1-2 pages—as well confidential, sealed letters of reference from faculty, and possibly statements of research interests, writing samples or publications, or teaching portfolios. References and reputation are extremely important in faculty searches. In some PhD programs, faculty will want to know every position you apply for so they can give you a good reference.

3. If selected, you may have an initial phone interview or be interviewed at a professional conference. If you are selected as a semi-finalist, you are usually flown to the university for a 1-2 day interview process including individual interviews, panel interviews, meals with faculty and possibly students, and a “job talk” in which you present research.

4. If you are actually selected for the job, you then have to prove yourself through research and teaching for six years, then be voted on by a committee of faculty to determine if you will receive tenure.

Non-Academic Job Search

Outside academia, the job search varies by industry or sub-sector; generally speaking, the closer the industry “follows” the academic market, and the more recent PhDs they hire, the more the job search will resemble the academic job search described above. For example, for PhDs in public policy, the job search for think tanks and research institutes might take place slightly later in the year compared with academic job search; but you might be interviewed at the same research conferences as you would for academic positions (such as the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management conference). You would still apply for positions, but perhaps not send the volume of materials as you would for academic roles; and you would still be interviewed and cross-examined on your research methods. Industries that hire recent PhDs along with experienced hires may do “just in time” hiring, a month or two before the job start date.